How to join TSNZ

Members can apply to be TSNZ Member through the Club they are shooting at. They will complete a TSNZ Membership form and pay subs to TSNZ, and will also pay Club and Association fees - these two fees will vary throughout NZ, depending on which club is being joined.

TSNZ Members can be Full Seniors, Juniors (under 21), Veterans (60+), Family, or Social (shoot up to 6 times in a year).

Membership for Outdoor and Air Rifle Shooters are due 31st December, and for Indoor shooters is due 31st April.

Competitions

Competitions run annually include Inter-Island, Postals, and Outdoor Nationals. Shooters can become Regional, Island and NZ representatives at these events.

Five Postal Shoots for individuals, clubs and associations are conducted each year by the TSNZ Office, with 70% of the income from entry fees being paid out to the shooters in prize money.A National Indoor Match is shot at 13 locations spread throughout the country and emailed to the office for collation.

A "National District Championship" (NDC) match is co-ordinated on behalf of TSNZ by Doug Gibson and shot at locations throughout the country with results faxed to a central point for collating.

Secondary School Shooting

A Secondary School Postal Shoot is held each year; this postal event is open to every Secondary School in New Zealand. Approximately 900 school pupils take part in this annual competition every year, gaining valuable practical knowledge of firearms safety and handling, apart from experiencing the thrill of target shooting as a sport. The TSNZ Challenge Secondary School competition provides many of our next generation of target shooters.

Inter Secondary School Shoulder to Shoulder Match

This match was contested for the first time in 2002. Such was its success that it is now an annual event competed alternately in the South Island at Blenheim or Christchurch and in the North Island at Wellington or Palmerston North. It is held generally, in the first or middle weekend of the school holidays at the end of term 3 and will be a Saturday / Sunday event. All Secondary schools are entitled to send one team of three, usually chosen from their 3 top shooters in the TSNZ Challenge Postal Match.

The pupils shoot an Inter School Match, then a North and South Island Team is selected and they compete against each other. From the top scores a New Zealand Team is selected which will shoot against an English team as a postal event.

About Air Rifle and Smallbore Rifle Shooting

As the name suggests, these Olympic sports are confined to rifles of smaller calibre - .22 rimfire rifles and .177 air rifles. Smallbore rifle shooting and air rifle shooting is extremely popular all round the world, with the tradition of target shooting going back many years.

20 and 25 Yard Indoor Shooting

The core of TSNZ shooting, with participants from 10 to 80 years of age, is based around the 1600 members who shoot at one of the many indoor ranges throughout New Zealand. Members are able to compete at a social, club, association, representative, championship or national level every week between 1 March and 30 September. This form of shooting provides a very controlled environment for new shooters to learn the correct principles of firearm safely and for pure sporting endeavours, which sees many family groups participating.

Air Rifle

The air rifle match consists of a 60 shot event for men and a 40 shot event for women using a .177 calibre target air rifle weighing no more than 5.5kg. The event is shot in the standing position over a distance of 10 metres on an indoor range with set lighting standards. In international competitions, such as the Olympic Games, there are separate events for men and women, although both genders jointly contest many of the events in New Zealand. Air Rifle is an inexpensive way to get into shooting, and it is a particularly appropriate way to introduce juniors to shooting.

50m Prone

Competitors fire 60 shots over the 50 metre Outdoor range using a .22 target rimfire rifle with standard velocity ammunition. The shots are fired from the prone position with a total time limit of 60 minutes. The men's rifle must not weigh more than 8kg and the women’s, not more than 6.5kg. Prone is the most contested singular event in New Zealand outdoor target shooting. 50m Prone is an Olympic event for Men and shot by both genders at World Championships, Commonwealth Games, Commonwealth Championships and Oceania Championships. Shot during the summer months of September to March at clubs throughout New Zealand, together with open championships almost every weekend during this period.

3 Position Rifle (3 x 40 for Men, 3 x 20 for Women)

Competitors fire 120 shots over 50 metres using a .22 target rimfire rifle weighing no more than 8kg for men and 6.5kg for women. Men fire forty shots are fired from the prone position, 40 from a standing position and 40 from a kneeling position, while women fire twenty shots in each position. This is certainly the most challenging of all the events, and often regarded as the marathon match of smallbore shooting since it takes over 4 hours to complete for Men and 2 hours for Women.

Participants

Smallbore Target Rifle Shooting is a sport, which is enjoyed by male and female, young and old, able bodied and people with disabilities, people with good eyesight or those who have the need to wear glasses, in fact people from all walks of life.